


Bits and Pieces

by HolmesFan



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Barista Will, Domestic Fluff, Multi, the total agony of being in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-02-16 14:37:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18693523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolmesFan/pseuds/HolmesFan
Summary: A collection of PotC ficlets from tumblr and beyond. Will vary in ship and rating.Ch. 1 - Errant Attire (Norribeth)Ch. 2 - Brewed Awakenings (Willington)Ch. 3 - Fort Comme La Mort (Norribeth)





	1. Errant Attire

‘James, darling?’

‘Yes, my love?’

‘Have you seen my favorite fichu? The one with the blue ribbon along the edge?’

James Norrington, Commodore in His Majesty’s Royal Navy, commanding officer of the garrison at Port Royal, Jamaica, protector of the Caribbean, and the unparalleled ‘Scourge of Piracy,’ looks up from his book, placing a finger on the page to mark his spot.

His lovely wife has filled the doorway of his study, awash in the mid-morning sun flooding in through the floor length windows...and little else. He blinks, amazed that, even after five years of marriage, she still has the ability to thoroughly rob him of all his higher faculties with her mere presence.

‘I should think,’ he states carefully, evenly, ‘you will be needing more than that before you are ready to face the day.’

She huffs, blowing away a curling strand of hair that has fallen from her messy updo and into her eyes. Her silk chemise, nearly translucent in the golden light, slips further down the curve of her exposed shoulder, and he nearly swallows his tongue.

‘When I require your aid in planning my outfits, I will ask. Now, do you know where it is, or not?’

Having come to a decision, the Commodore snaps his forgotten volume closed and rises, linking his hands behind his back as he crosses the room with measured steps. ‘Perhaps somewhere in the pile of linens you’ve left on your bed?’ The bed she hasn’t used a single night since moving in.

‘Of course that was the first place I checked,’ she pouts, full lips tempting him like sweet berries ripe enough to fall off the vine. ‘I was in my cups the last time I wore it, and now, I cannot, for the life of me, recall where it got to.’

James stops, head canting to the side, a smile playing on his face. He then brushes past her into the hallway and reaches down behind the settee. His fingers close around something soft and he produces the missing garment with as small a flourish as he can manage.

‘Oh.’ Elizabeth blushes a pretty pink, clearly remembering the events that led to its disappearance, how impatient she’d been, and how...vocal.

‘Oh.’ He repeats, pressing the fabric into her hand. Then he takes her other in his own, dusting a kiss across her palm. Her molten brown eyes sparkle.

‘You know, come to think of it, I believe I’ve lost track of my favorite stockings as well? Will you come upstairs and help me search for them?’

James chuckles, fingers threading hers, heart so full beneath his ribs, it could burst. ‘As you wish, my love.’

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A prompt filled for a [PotC kinkmeme](https://potc-kink-meme.dreamwidth.org/722.html).
> 
> Thanks for reading!~


	2. Brewed Awakenings

James prefers his coffee black, not especially fond of all the bells and whistles people tend to throw into the mix these days. But a simple dark drip means he’s out of the door in less than two minutes. And, for reasons he hasn’t yet taken the time to parse out, he’s keen to spend just a few more minutes waiting by the counter.

It could be the pleasant smell of freshly ground beans in the air. It could be the cozy, laid-back atmosphere of the establishment, how it gives him a break from his fast-paced life. It could be he simply likes the unique roast of the house espresso.

It could be many things.

But, while they may add to the draw of the place, James knows the truth of the matter even as he wraps himself in the familiar cloak of denial.

A soft, sincere smile. Warm, russet eyes. The way the barista instantly memorized his on-the-spot, conjured, confection of a drink.

‘See you tomorrow, James.’

He pretends not to notice how their fingers brush as he takes the paper cup, which he would usually pawn off on a coworker before using the communal office Keurig. But the scrawled seven-digit number beneath his thumb makes that an impossibility today.

This one is _his._

‘I wouldn’t miss it.’

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From an [ask meme](https://norrington-hell.tumblr.com/post/183382221692) on tumblr.
> 
> Thanks for reading!~


	3. Fort Comme La Mort

The first time Elizabeth sees James Norrington as a man, she is fourteen years old. Obviously, she always knew he was male, and she would have to be blind to be unaware of his objective good looks. But it isn’t until her fourteenth summer that said good looks are put into context.

She is not long returned from an extended stay with her late mother’s family in England when the Captain pays a visit to The Kings’ House to see her father. She is drawn out onto the second story landing by a familiar baritone voice, excited by the prospect of regaling one of her most beloved friends with her holiday adventures. But she freezes in her tracks at the sight of him.

_Has he always been so tall?_

Broad shoulders shrug out of his frock coat as the butler receives him. Dark, expressive brows sweep over piercing green eyes. Eyes that are locked on her at the top of the stairs. His lips part in one of his rare, exquisite smiles, but it is all Elizabeth can do to merely gawk down at him, a gargoyle in linen petticoats.

Her father’s sudden appearance from below draws the Captain’s attention, and she takes the opportunity to duck back into her room and recover before dinner.

But there is no recovery. And, after suffering through the magnificent torture of his proximity all through the meal, Elizabeth begs off with claims of a migraine. She spends the rest of the evening staring up at the ceiling in the dark, skin tacky with sweat despite the open window, puzzling over the fluttering in her stomach, the hitch in her heartbeat.

She thinks, perhaps, she is dying.

\---

The first time James sees Elizabeth Swann as a woman, he is woefully unprepared. But how does one prepare for an earthquake? How does one prepare for a hurricane? An act of God, that’s what it was. And he will never decide whether it was one of mercy or of judgement.

He is attending a ball commemorating his most recent victory at sea and subsequent return, more out of obligation than any inclination toward revelry. But that’s when he spies her. Up on the mezzanine, a glass of champagne pinched between two dainty fingers.

_Has she always been so beautiful?_

A score of pale blue flowers are woven into her burnished curls, which fall to her shoulder in ringlets and frame the elegant lines of her face. Molten brown eyes spear his own as her gaze snags on him, and the smile that splits her features steals the air from his lungs. Everyone else in the room seems to disappear. Then she begins making her way to him.

James watches a man meet her halfway, watches him take her offered hand, watches him dust a kiss across her knuckles. He is seized in a savage vice of jealousy until he realizes the man is him. The joy that floods his system feels so much more like terror.

She dances with him. Three times. All graceful civility and sparkling laughter. Where has the imp gone, he wonders? The befreckled, inquisitive little sprite who used to follow him about with leaves caught in her hair, begging for stories about pirates. She was charming in her daring, amusing in her precociousness. But this creature before him? This goddess?

James has to remind himself to breathe. Even much later, in the darkness of his own room. _Breathe._

He thinks, perhaps, he is dying.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An art trade with [kallielef](https://kallielef.tumblr.com).  
> Her half can be found [here](https://norrington-hell.tumblr.com/post/187897752031)!
> 
> Thanks for reading!~


End file.
